By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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The Atlanta Thrashers are in town.
That sentence should give any Canes fan shudders. After all, the last two games between these teams resulted in epic Carolina collapses, first in Atlanta last February then here at the RBC Center on the day after Thanksgiving, when the Canes blew a 4-1 lead by giving up five goals in thirteen minutes.
Of course, since then the Canes have at least made a respectable showing, while the Thrashers have tanked; in a playoff spot as recently as a month ago, and within a few points of division-leading Washington, the Thrashers currently sit in eleventh place in the conference, and while nominally they're still in second place in the division they're 17 points behind the Caps and only a point ahead of both Tampa Bay and Florida, who play each other tonight. If the Thrashers lose, they could fall all the way down to fourth in the division tonight depending on the result of the other divisional matchup.
The Canes continue to make calls to Albany to get their young players accustomed to life in the NHL, one of the few beneficial byproducts of their spate of injuries. Tonight, Drayson Bowman makes his debut with the Hurricanes, replacing Jerome Samson who was sent back after a five-game cup of coffee in the NHL. The injured list hasn't grown much lately, but it still contains the names of Sergei Samsonov, Erik Cole, Chad LaRose and Joe Corvo, all of whom are skating but are still a decent distance from returning. Samsonov may be back within the week, but the others are still going to be on the shelf for awhile.
Will the Canes avoid another epic meltdown against the Thrashers tonight? We're about to find out...
:07 1st: How about getting Cam Ward into the game early? Bryan Little had an open shot from the low slot that Ward had to be quick to stop with a glove save. And to make matters worse, Joni Pitkanen took a penalty. Way to start the game, Canes.
2:29 1st: Thrashers lead 1-0; Bogosian 9 (Afinogenov, Peverley) The Canes aren't waiting for the third period to fall asleep against the Thrashers tonight. The first two minutes of this game have been a case study in what not to do: defense out of position, lazy penalties, and not much in the way of skating. A turnover behind the Canes' net led to Zach Bogosian parking himself at the top of the slot and firing a laser that was deflected over Cam Ward's shoulder to give the Thrashers the lead.
6:05 1st: The Canes got their first sustained pressure of the night and it almost led to a goal if Aaron Ward had realized that Thrashers goaltender Ondrej Pavelec was down and left the top two-thirds of the net open. Unfortunately, Ward had his back to the net, so by the time he realized the gaping net was right there the Thrashers had scrambled defensively.
8:44 1st: Ouch. A 3-on-2 rush for the Thrashers didn't result in a shot, unless you count the shot Evander Kane took from the end boards behind Cam Ward. He lost his balance and slid hard into the boards, prompting a stoppage even though he skated off on his own.
13:30 1st: Since that early flurry from the Thrashers, the Canes have at least earned themselves a couple of breaks on a few good shots. They're still not where they need to be, but I suppose it's acceptable considering they were rather shell-shocked with the way the game started.
16:20 1st: The Thrashers were within an inch of making it a two-goal lead, but Eric Boulton's backhand hit the near-side post after Brandon Sutter turned the wrong way trying to make a play. Even though the Thrashers have only mustered three shots in the last seven minutes, they still look considerably more interested in this game than the Canes do.
18:45 1st: The Canes are on a power play, but you wouldn't know it from their three passes to no one in the first thirty seconds of the man advantage.
18:54 1st: Canes tie it at 1; Jokinen 12 (Pitkanen, Cullen) (pp) Joni Pitkanen is making the long stretch pass an art form, and Jussi Jokinen has been the beneficiary for more than a few of those nice passes. As we've seen a few other times this year, Pitkanen found Jokinen in a seam between Thrashers defensemen at the blue line, and Jokinen picked the top corner on the backhand over Pavelec's shoulder to tie the game.
End 1st: Andrew Alberts will be in the penalty box for 1:46 to start the 2nd, courtesy of a holding-the-stick penalty that had the Canes bench less than pleased. The Canes, despite the goal, were decidedly outplayed in the first period, and the 14-10 shot differential reflects that. Not really the way you want to start the game if you're the Canes.
5:20 2nd: Good end-to-end action early in the period, but the Canes have had to contend with a few Atlanta rushes and haven't looked all that great in doing so. The offense looks like it's coming around, slowly, but the defense is still stuck in neutral.
7:40 2nd: On cue, the Canes leave Ilya Kovalchuk unchecked at the front of the net, but the pass is in his skates and he misfires. Otherwise, it's 2-1.
8:06 2nd: Eric Staal's hooked on a breakaway, earning himself a penalty shot...which he proceeds to do nothing with. He's a dangerous scorer, but for some reason his penalty shot acumen is sorely lacking, which is why you never see him in the first few shooters in a shootout.
11:00 2nd: A few seconds after the penalty shot, Joni Pitkanen took a slashing penalty but the Canes were superb in killing it off, only allowing the Thrashers one shot with the man advantage. Hopefully they can build on that defensive effort as the game goes on, because they were allowing very little for the Thrashers to take advantage of on the power play.
14:33 2nd: Thrashers lead 2-1; Slater 5 (Little) For as good as Ward's played over the last few weeks, that's one he knows he'd like to have back. Jim Slater and Bryan Little played catch on a 2-on-2, and Slater's innocent-looking shot from the bottom of the near circle bounced off Ward's pad before it was set at the near post and ricocheted into the net. Cheap goal for the Canes to give up, but it didn't really surprise anyone in the building.
15:30 2nd: Brandon Sutter is denied by a quick pad save from Pavelec, on a garbage-goal attempt. Pavelec has been up for the task when he's needed to be so far.
15:45 2nd: Thrashers lead 3-1; Peverley 14 (Boulton, Kozlov) Not quite two goals in a minute, but close enough and it has the same effect. This game has been a litany of missed chances converting at the other end, and the Canes defense yet again lost track of the Thrashers in the offensive zone. Rich Peverley was the beneficiary, with a nice deflection that hit paydirt just above Ward's right pad. The Thrashers have had no trouble at all skating the puck into the zone tonight, to the point that the Canes are back on their heels every time the puck comes across the red line.
End 2nd: Another period, another 14-10 Atlanta lead in the shot department. Ho hum. Nothing we haven't seen before, right folks? By the way, the Canes' magic number for playoff elimination is 58 from both Ottawa and Montreal.
5:31 3rd: A 2-on-1 for the Canes, unsurprisingly, doesn't connect. Ray Whitney had Eric Staal unchecked down the left side, but the pass was off the mark and the puck wound up in Staal's skates, denying him an opportunity at an open net.
6:55 3rd: How Boris Valabik didn't get a cross-checking penalty for shoving Eric Staal into the net, I'll never know. Appropriately, though, Valabik did earn a roughing penalty after the play for instigating Staal into some shoving behind the net, giving the Canes a 5-on-3 for a minute.
7:59 3rd: Canes pull to 3-2; Jokinen 13 (Staal, Pitkanen) (pp) An awful looking 5-on-3 results in a goal anyway. The Canes were getting no movement, but Jussi Jokinen drew Pavelec off his far post and snuck the puck through the open few inches to make it a one-goal game.
9:09 3rd: Canes tie it at 3; Whitney 15 (Pitkanen, Jokinen) A few seconds after the Valabik penalty expired, Ray Whitney tied the game for the Canes on a nice snap shot through traffic from the low slot. Pitkanen has figured in on all three Canes goals, to no one's surprise.
9:53 3rd: Thrashers retake a 4-3 lead; Kovalchuk 28 (Enstrom, Antropov) But just that quickly, the Thrashers are back on top thanks to the great release of Ilya Kovalchuk. Cam Ward had no prayer of stopping Kovalchuk's shot from the top of the slot, 40 feet from the net, because it was placed perfectly...the way we've seen so many Kovalchuk goals in the last eight years.
12:30 3rd: I need a break after all that. The Canes look like they do too, because they're right back to being sieves in their own zone, giving the Thrashers way too much room with which to work.
15:45 3rd: Yet again, a this-is-your-life moment for the Canes' offense. Staal drew two defensemen to him, had Whitney behind the defense...and passed the puck behind him. Nothing too surprising for this team, but it is rather annoying how predictable it is.
End 3rd: Another game, another listless effort late for the Canes. The game was capped off by a Nik Antropov empty-netter with 25 seconds left, but in reality it was done well before that, when the Canes couldn't get anything going by generating offense. Shots in the third were 12-10 Hurricanes, but the Thrashers led overall 37-32, a fair outcome given how the game went.
Postgame: Not much to say in the locker room tonight. The Canes knew they let one get away, but they are still at a loss to explain what's going on. Paul Maurice was brief in his remarks, but again he made the point that they were asleep at the wheel early in the game and it cost them late as they couldn't pull back after the Kovalchuk goal. The young guys, he said, were good sparks for the Canes, but let's be honest: Boychuk played eight minutes, Bowman just over ten, so how could he say they did well when they were getting fourth-line minutes?
That's one of many does-not-compute things out of this game. I'll have a column up tomorrow discussing the usage of the youngsters. (It won't be sunshine and sugar trees, I guarantee.)
Click for audio from Jussi Jokinen. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
Back at it when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town Monday night...
Saturday, January 16, 2010
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